Self-assembling tray

ABSTRACT

A tray formed from a sheet divided into panels, adopting a three-by-three matrix configuration, provided with a central, an upper and a lower row, each with three panels, wherein the sheet has a central panel and two end panels at its intermediate row, one at each side of central panel, these three panels intended to form the bottom, while in the upper and lower rows, there is a central panel and respectively and two panels with handle at each side, wherein additionally the end panels from each row are refolded over central panels, wherein optionally the overlapping surface of panels is glued through one or several gluing points, such that a tray with a minimum production processing, made on a single machine, and erectable “in situ”, is obtained.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This application claims the benefit of European Patent Application EP12382005.2, filed on Jan. 11, 2012, the contents of which applicationare herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to boxes and trays made of cardboard,starting from a die-cut and cut sheet, and more particularly, toself-assembling boxes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The state of the art shows many cardboard boxes formed from die-cut andcut cardboard sheets, all of them having the feature that once the sheetis cut, folding and a subsequent gluing are required to ensurestructural strength and stability.

The need to apply a number of gluing points on the overlapping surfaces,after folding the panels, the side walls, the front walls and the flaps,complicates the formation of the boxes. On one hand, if the boxes arefactory-assembled, transporting empty boxes is bulky and expensive. Onthe other hand, if the boxes are transported before assembling, thereshould be machines for assembling the boxes in situ, which is adisadvantage.

There are other boxes that can be erected in situ, but they can beimproved in some aspects. Generally these boxes have a complex geometry;they do not guarantee enough structural stability and strength.

Usually boxes are provided flat in order to optimize transport, and theyare erected to form their container structures at the time of filling.This assembly can be done manually, which takes some handling time, orby a specialized machine, adapted to the design of the box.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to overcome theabove disadvantage relating to the the formation of the box, to thecomplex geometries of the boxes, and to the lack of enough structuralstability and strength. A further object of the invention is to ease theformation of the boxes, so they can be manually erected with a minimumhandling time and as ergonomically as possible.

The object of this invention is a self-assembling tray, understanding by“tray” a multi-sided configuration open at the top, that is, a boxwithout a top closure. This “self-assembling” tray can be erecteddirectly from a single folded sheet, without having to perform anyadditional operation.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the die-cut, cut andscored sheet which forms the tray have a special configuration anddesign, such that the sheet is provided folded and optionally with agluing at the central part of the base and it is possible to erect thetray just by pulling conveniently from the ends of the box in order tomatch the handles.

According to a further aspect, the self-assembling tray is formed from adie-cut and cut cardboard sheet and on which score lines have been madein order to assist subsequent folding of its panels during assembly.Optionally the starting sheet for the formation of the box could have acentral gluing at the base, which could be done through one or severalgluing points, preferably one.

The sheet used to form the tray has an essentially rectangularconfiguration divided into panels separated by score lines forming athree-by-three matrix. That is, the sheet has three rows of panels, eachhaving one panel, where each panel has a different function.

Panels forming the bottom of the box are in the central row in thehorizontal direction, looking at the sheet as seen in FIG. 1, whileupper and lower rows are identical, and each of them having a centralpanel forming one of the front walls of the box, while the two endpanels of each row are intended to form the side walls of the box, i.e.the sides on which handles are arranged.

The side walls are formed with two panels, one from the upper row andthe opposing panel from the lower row, which overlap. Each of thesepanels has a cutting and a score line in an oblong form. By cuttingpartially along the score lines, an oblong aperture is formed, whichwill serve as a handle. Also as a result of the partial cutting a flapis formed. When the opposing panels in the upper and lower rows matcheach other, the oblong apertures also match. When the flaps are passedthrough the apertures, the result is that one of the panels is held bythe other, thus ensuring structural stability of the tray.

The end panels in the intermediate row have a triangular configurationat their upper and lower part, where one of the sides of the triangularconfiguration is a score line separating the panels with handles fromthese panels forming the bottom, another side is free of connections toanother part of the panel and the third is a score line which allowsturning and pivoting of the panels with handle.

Furthermore, these panels forming the bottom can have a folding line atthe line separating the end panels from the central panel, in case theyare manually erected, or optionally they are provided with a gluingsurface, which is provided on the overlapping part of the central areaof the opposite panels from the central row, when the opposite panelsare provided on the central panel, being glued through one or severalgluing points along the overlapping surface, such that the bottom of thepackaging is double.

Thanks to the described configuration, a packaging open at the top isobtained, which has a minimum processing during production, obtainedfrom a single sheet which can be printed, die-cut and glued, which mayoptionally have a central gluing area at the base, all this being donein a single specific machine. Thus, ergonomics in assembly andproduction cost come together since the machine performs every operationin a single process. In addition, the packaging has a double bottom,resulting in a greater load capacity of the packaging without the bottomof the box collapsing.

The present invention will be better understood in view of the drawingsand following detailed description of preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the die-cut, cut and scored sheet which forms the tray ofthe invention.

FIG. 2 shows the tray once folded and formed.

FIG. 3 shows the tray folded so as to be ready for transport andsubsequent formation into a tray.

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 show the process of forming the tray starting from thesheet shown in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In FIG. 1, the initial die-cut, cut and scored sheet can be seen. Thissheet is the starting point towards the arrangement shown in FIG. 3,from which a tray as the one shown in FIG. 2 can be self-assembled.

The sheet has an essentially rectangular configuration, divided intopanels, adopting a three-by-three matrix configuration, having an upperrow of three panels, aligned, followed by an intermediate row, of threepanels as well, and finally a lower row of three panels, theirconnecting sides having the same dimensions.

On its intermediate row, the sheet has a central panel (1) and two endpanels (2) at each side of the central panel (1), these three panelsforming the bottom of the box.

The central panel (1) is connected to front panels (3) and (6) and toend panels (2) by a folding line (1.1).

In the upper row there is a central panel (3) and two panels at eachside (4) and (5), each of them with a handle. In the lower row there isa central panel (6) and two panels at each side (7) and (8), each with ahandle.

Panels (3) and (6) form the front panels of the tray, or front walls,while the panels with handle (4), (5), (7) and (8) are intended to formthe side walls containing the handles.

Each of the panels with a handle (4), (5), (7) and (8) has:

-   A folding line (4.2), (5.2), (7.2), (8.2) respectively at its    junction with the panel (3) or (6).-   A folding line (4.1), (5.1), (7.1) an (8.1) respectively at its    junction with panel (2).-   A cutting defining an oblong aperture (4.3), (5.3), (7.3) and (8.3)    respectively, which serves as a handle; and a flap (4.4), (5.4),    (7.4) and (8.4).

The panels (2) at the ends of the central row and which form the bottomtogether with central panel (1), have a triangular configuration attheir upper and lower part at their junction with the panels with ahandle, and a central area (2.3) polygonal in shape.

The upper triangular configuration of panels (2) has a side which is thefolding line (4.1) or (5.1), another side which is a folding line (2.1)and which starts from a corner of the bottom panel's (1), at whichcorner there is a convergence of folding lines (5.1) with (1.2) or (4.1)with (1.2), and then converges with the other side (2.4), this otherside (2.4) starting from the free end of folding line (4.1) or (5.1).

On the other hand, the lower triangular configuration of panels (2) hasa side which is the folding line (7.1) or (8.1), another side which is afolding line (2.2) and which starts from another corner of the bottompanel (1), at which corner there is another convergence of folding lines(7.1) with (1.2) or (8.1) with (1.2), and then converges with the otherside (2.4), this other side (2.4) starting from the free end of foldingline (7.1) or (8.1) respectively.

FIG. 3 illustrates the sheet ready for its subsequent formation, forwhich purpose the end panels from each row, that is the two panels (2)and panels (4), (5), (7) and (8) are refolded over central panels (1),(3) and (6), and the overlapping surface of the central area (2.3) frompanels (2) can be glued, with one or several gluing points to be appliedpreferably on the overlapping area of the central area (2.3).

Proceeding from the folded sheet as shown in FIG. 3, the self-assemblyof the tray can be started by pulling panels (4), (5), (7) and (8), bymatching their handles, for which purpose handles from said panels mustbe separated at a distance “D” from the respective folding line withside panel (3) or (6) so that such a distance “D” is half the height “H”of panels (2).

Once the panels with handles are matched so they form the side walls,the other panel flap is passed through the oblong opening of one of theoverlapping panels, and this serves as an additional means of union andreinforcement of said panels, as shown in FIG. 6.

Finally, the formed tray is shown in FIG. 2.

The foregoing description is provided for illustrative and exemplarypurposes; the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto.Rather, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that variousmodifications, as well as adaptations to particular circumstances willbe possible within the scope of the invention as herein shown anddescribed.

What is claimed is:
 1. A self-assembling tray comprising: a single sheethaving score lines for folding; wherein the sheet has an essentiallyrectangular configuration, the sheet being divided into panels with athree-by-three matrix configuration, having an upper row of threealigned panels followed by an intermediate row of three aligned panels,and a lower row of three aligned panels, all of the rows with the samedimensions at their junctions; wherein the intermediate row of threepanels includes a intermediate row central panel and two intermediaterow end panels, one at each side of the intermediate row central panel,these three intermediate row panels folded to form the bottom of theself-assembling tray; wherein the upper row of three panels includes anupper row central panel and two upper row end panels, one at each sideof the upper row central panel, each of the upper row end panels havinga handle defined therein; wherein the lower row of three panels includesan lower row central panel and two lower row end panels, one at eachside of the lower row central panel, each of the lower row end panelshaving a handle defined therein; and wherein the upper, intermediate andlower row end panels are all folded over their respective upper,intermediate and lower row central panels.
 2. The self-assembling trayof claim 1, wherein the intermediate row central panel is connected tothe upper and lower row central panels through respective firstintermediate folding lines, and to the central row end panels throughrespective second intermediate folding lines.
 3. The self-assemblingtray of claim 1, wherein the upper and lower row end panels each: areconnected to a respective of the of the central row end panels through afirst folding line; are connected to respective one of the upper orlower row central panels through a second folding line; define an oblongaperture which serves as the handle and forms a flap.
 4. Theself-assembling tray of claim 3, wherein each handle is separated fromthe second folding line of its respective one of the upper or lower rowend panels by a distance that is one half a height of the the respectiveone of the upper or lower row central panels.
 5. The self-assemblingtray of claim 1, wherein the central row end panels each have atriangular configuration at their upper and lower part at theirrespective connections to the upper and lower end panels, and a centralarea polygonal in shape.
 6. The self-assembling tray of claim 4, whereineach of the triangular configurations has a first side defined by afirst folding line connecting with the respective upper or lower row endpanel, a second side defined by a second folding line extendingoutwardly from where an inner end of the first side meets a respectivecorner of the intermediate row central panel, and a third side extendingbetween outer ends of the first and second sides.
 7. The self-assemblingtray, according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate row end panels eachhave a central area polygonal in shape, the central area of one of theintermediate row end panels overlapping the other and being gluedthereto by at least one gluing point.